Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Increased by Northeast Financial Consultants Inc

Northeast Financial Consultants Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 141,799 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,120 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.7% of Northeast Financial Consultants Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $61,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $409.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $431.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $423.56. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.